M.O.D.O.K.

In a nutshell

MODOK is unorthodox in both character design and fighting style. While the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing’s plethora of projectiles, defensive command normal, and unprecedented length of flight time would immediately suggest a zoning character, the meta-game points to a different strategic standpoint: that of technical rushdown. By understanding and combining the diverse properties of MODOK’s moves in combos, particularly those with jump cancels or S modifications, players can surprise opponents with a relatively large character that can swiftly yet mysteriously decimate most any other character’s health points.

Alternate Colors

Players to Watch

TA|Moonz, El Gato, Rubeks

The Ultimate Transition

MODOK received only two character-specific changes, and they’re both buffs: Cancel air normals into air dashes (a corollary to MODOK’s jump-cancelling ground normals), and Killer Illumination is now mashable.

Note that the game-wide “no blocking during air dashes” and “Down-back air dashes are slower” rules impact MODOK as well; however, most of the time effective MODOK players are air-dashing close to the ground against a blocking or stunned opponent, rendering tactical alterations minimal.

Consumes all Understanding Charges (Number of charges determines strength of blast and length of )

Killer Illumination

+ +

300,000 at 30 hits 372,000 at 66 hits

Mash for more hits

Hyper Battering Ram

+ +

25,000 X 3 ~ 15 (72,700 ~ 305,000)

Can be aimed, first attack always aimed forward Timed button pressed leads to another 3-hit "burst", for up to 5 bursts on the ground and up to 4 bursts in the air The number of bursts that can be performed during an air Hyper Battering Ram decreases by one if M.O.D.O.K. air dashes or performs an aerial Battering Ram Scales by 97%

Combos

TAC Infinite

Hit/Hurtbox Guide

Strategy

Tips and Tricks

Once you've struck with Analyze Cube, deploy a Big Barrier, park M.O.D.O.K. inside of it, consider entering low flight, and then shower your opponent with more Analyze Cubes. If they fall for this tactic, you may be able to easily whittle down their health while recycling Big Barriers (regularly re-deploying them as they run out), while also building meter and Levels of Understanding. Remember what tactics your opponent uses to attempt to overcome this, so you can exploit holes in their attack plan later in the match.

After AIR Hyper Battering Ram during a Launcher combo, try a Down Aerial Exchange to switch M.O.D.O.K. out, continue a damaging combo, and even bring M.O.D.O.K. back in during the same combo for a Flight-sustained Analyze Cube spree!

Learn how the air versions of MODOK’s specials operate. The lack of self-visibility can make things confusing for an opponent while MODOK is in air, so a quick transition to a higher altitude may make formerly insignificant Bombs and Cubes suddenly effective.

If you deploy a Barrier and your opponent attempts to super-punish, try activating Command Flight. The opening frames of Command Flight will change to ground blocking frames against an incoming attack.

The secret to full-screen poking as MODOK is not Psionic Blast L. That special, while fast, drops an opponent too quickly to hit-confirm into a combo or hyper move. Instead, use Psionic High Blast, which expends 1 LOU with each use. It puts a grounded opponent in a stagger state if struck, allowing MODOK to do whatever is desired.

Open a match with Killer Illumination to surprise trigger-happy opponents.

Basic Strategy

Players can and must take advantage of down-time (the period between when one opponent partner is defeated and the next partner hops in). What projectile to use? You could certainly try Balloon Bomb L near the corner and then double dash underneath it as the opponent hops in for an easy cross-up. Perhaps a Big Barrier could pen them in or absorb their attacks.

If the player is not establishing/maintaining an advantage as MODOK, he might ask himself this simple question: am I using every single move available to me? Common to most fighting game keepaway players is a tendency toward only the one or two simplest projectile options, which telegraphs attack patterns and leaves the character open to counterattacks. Know and use all of MODOK’s moves to maximize dominance. In particular, many opponents become frustrated by the repetition of only one or two moves and will rush in after being hit more than twice. Prepare another version of the move you’re using to disrupt them, use a different projectile, use a super, or empty-jump/crouch randomly to fool an opponent and bait an unsafe move.

Advanced Strategy

Combos by LTP

For this section, I will start slow with very basic BnB’s that as a MODOK player, you want to know how to do, or at least be aware of. Gradually, we will become more advanced and throw in a couple of example of common assists or common classes of assists for combo extension. I just want to quickly note that saving your wallbounce and groundbounce for the end of combos gives you access to extra damage and/or options.

Before I delve into some basic BnB’s, I would also like to mention what you should be thinking when you get a combo rolling. What should be the end goal of this combo? You have three basic options. Those options are to the kill the character, jam the character for a reset/snapback, or simply go for a reset. This decision will be based on a number of factors, including what you can do after your combo starter (it might not be possible to jam), how much meter you have/are willing to spend, the health of the character you are comboing, and the threat level of the other characters on your opponent’s team. Know what you can do with your assists after any touch with MODOK so you can make a smart decision on where your combo should leave your opponent at its end.

Now, time for some combos.

Basic BnB’s and Relaunch Variants/Info

There are two basic combo outlines that, as a MODOK player, you will typically go to. One has 2 sets of basic air combos, while the other has 1. I will show the latter first. Note that when you manage to hit 2 or more characters, these BnBs will hit fully and are your go-to combos. Do not add cubes to these combos in that situation, since cubes only hit one character.

MODOK Basic BnB Structure (2 air combos)
cr.h, jump, adf, j.m, dash, st.s, sj.m, sj.m, sj.h, sj.s, wave dash twice, cr.m, st.s, sj.m, sj.m, sj.s, dash, cr.m, l blaster, hyper
With your starter, this combo will too take you corner to corner. I recommend learning this combo, or its relaunch variants, as it gives you a good feel for MODOK’s combo pieces and how his normals function, and it saves his wallbounce.

Before I get ahead of myself, I will break down one part that is common to both of these combos, and that is cr.h, jump, adf, j.m. Knowing to do this is critical to using MODOK. Once cr.h hits, just tap up, input a dash, then immediately press m. Practice, practice, practice this until you will never drop it.

Once you get that down, the first combo should not be much of a problem. Just make sure you input the air series quickly enough (or shorten it to sj.m, slight delay, sj.h, slight delay, sj.s).

For the second combo, for the second air series, super jump up forward immediately after the st.:s:, then wait for a little bit before doing the air series. Going straight into the air series will not give you enough time to OTG afterward to follow up.

There are also a few variants of the second combo regarding relaunching. Some may find it difficult to relaunch by wave dashing twice. Another option is to land, tap uf, dash df, cr.m, st.s. Note that you are at the minimum dash height when tapping uf, so buffering your dash df is a good idea. This should be familiar if you are used to Doom relaunches midscreen. Another thing I should mention is that for this combo variation and the original combo, after doing cr.m, do not mash on st.s. Depending on your starter, this might not work. Remember that comboing from cr.m to st.s is a chain, and that when cr.m hits the opponent and OTGs, you can input st.s. But this is Mahvel, so you can buffer that st.s a little bit before the cr.m hits, allowing you to always get your relaunch when hitstun deterioration would make it a tight link off of some starters.

One more variation of the second combo’s relaunch is to preform what you do to combo off of grabs, though this is inconsistent with starters that heavily effect hitstun deterioration (starting off with j.s, which groundbounces, for example). Once again, this input is: dash, cr.m, fly, adf, j.m. One more important note about this relaunch is to know your timing. If you input command flight and dash (2 buttons) right away, your command flight will plink into HBR… not what you want. Go into training mode and practice this relaunch off of normal grabs until you do not get HBR often. It is possible to circumvent this issue altogether by tapping forward twice to dash instead of using the normal 2 button dash, but you sacrifice the general ease and speed of the 2 button dash, though by all means, if you can do it, it’s certainly superior for combos in these cases where you must fly, then dash.

One last note about relaunching: you might be noticing that cr.m does not consistently OTG against small characters (and for some reason, Dorm) after a hard knockdown in the corner. This is especially noticeable when that hard knockdown is caused by a throw, since more normal sized characters become affected by this. This is easily corrected by wave dashing back first before doing cr.m, st.s. MODOK’s launcher has a great hitbox, so though it might look like you are too far back, it will always combo. Though you do not always have to wave dash back before relaunching in the corner, it is a good habit to get into, since it will always work.

Optimizing damage on the Last Air Series

Now at this point, you should have enough information to get your basic BnB of choice going. Before I get into assist combo extensions, I will mention a quick combo optimization to your basic BnBs. If you end up in the corner or very close to the corner, you can add an extra l blaster at the end of your last air series. This is great, since at times, doing sj.s for the last air series will whiff if your combo starter was horrendously long. For the last air series, what you do instead is: sj.m, sj.m, l blaster, add or addf, sj.s. For this blaster air series, you want the opponent as high as possible, so after doing st.s, wait a bit on the ground before super jumping up forward. sj.m also floats the opponent higher, which is useful for this purpose as well. Also, be aware that you go back to neutral before tapping sj.s after doing add(f), or you will get a TAC. The main thing to learn here is when you recover from l blaster to add(f) (ie. mash j.l after doing l blaster to see when you recover). Once you figure out the timing for doing add(f) afterwards l blaster, practice.

Tagging on an Extra Cube (2nd BnB Structure)

It is possible to put a cube in the very beginning of your combo without sacrificing much damage, though there are different combo routes to be taken depending on where you are on screen. In the corner, to get a cube quickly, do cr.h, l cube, st.s, etc. At midscreen, you have two options. The easier one is: cr.h, h cube, dash, st.s, etc. The harder one is: cr.h, :m: cube, dash, cr.l, st.s, etc. It is good to know both, since the second one can be done almost anywhere.

Basic Assist Combo Extension and Combo Enders

Now, it’s time for combo extensions with assists. This is where you will build cubes for resets, do jamming bombs without sacrificing much damage, and/or optimize your damage for the kill. Usually, you want to have assists that ignore hitstun deterioration for easy combo-ability and allow you to continue the combo off of a hard knockdown in the corner. So let’s say a1 is your generic combo extending assist. After your basic BnB, do something like: dash back and call a1, cr.m, l blaster. If your assist is fast enough, it may be possible to do an l cube instead of an l blaster. From there, let your assist juggle the opponent, then tag on your wallbounce (fwd.H) or your groundbounce (j.s) at the end. Generally, try using up your wallbounce first before your groundbounce. You want to have at least one assist that allows you to get a fwd.h after a hard knockdown in the corner to have MODOK at his full combo potential. If both the wallbounce and groundbounce are already used, do fwd.h, m blaster, hyper, for your typical combo ender into damage. If you wish to snap back, a typical ender has a snapback instead of a hyper (doing l blaster instead may be easier to time). During the time your assist juggles the opponent, see if you can do extra damage by adding an l blaster or bomb. So when your a1 call is finished, do fwd.h to wallbounce. From there, you can do l cube or l bomb before calling out your next assist. The next step is to incorporate a2, another generic combo extending assist. You probably want to do fwd.h and a2 at the same time, then see what can work. Try jamming bomb, dashing up and doing l bombs, or if a2 does not hit in time after fwd.h, try calling it before fwd.h or doing an l or m blaster after fwd.h. After finding what works, try getting in another fwd.h at the end, jump, adf, j.s to use your groundbounce, fwd.h, into one of the enders mentioned earlier or the resets that are to be discussed later. If your a2 just won’t cooperate, try finding a way to be creative with your groundbounce to add it in. One quick optimization note: after using the groundbounce, it is possible to do l bomb, fwd.h, ender, but that doing fwd.h after the extra l bomb is very strict.

I will now give you a few sample enders using various assists. These combos pick up off from your basic BnB combo, and you are now in the corner, with your opponent in a hard knockdown state unless I mention otherwise.

Corner Combos – Optimizing Damage

Even though your basic BnB with adjustable enders will be your staple BnB, you should know that your combos can be optimized for damage when in or near the corner before you do your assist based combo ender. Here are two sample combo starters that go for optimal damage (provided by Caveman).

Note that you must float up for a moment after doing cr.:h:, so you can do j.:h:, adf, j.:h:. Simply tapping up and doing adf, j.:h: whiffs. By floating up for a moment, adf, j.:h: can hit if you input j.:h: quickly after dashing forward.

Corner Combos – Building Up Your LoU (Cube Combos)

When in the corner, you can also opt to build up your LoU and go for a cube corner combo. Doing this however is heavily reliant on your assists and what characters you are performing the combo on (read: these only work on normal sized characters), so I will give you two basic combo parts that one typically sees at the start of cube combos as guidelines before you need to find a way for your assists to contribute in tandem with your wallbounce and groundbounce. Both your wallbounce and groundbounce should usually net you one more cube (ie. :f::h:, :l: cube and j.:s:, :l: cube).

The first basic combo part is simply cr.:h:, :l: cube. You can usually get at least two reps in before you have to use your assists.

The second basic combo part is the one I usually turn to and seems more consistent. It goes like this: cr.:h:, jump, (j.:m:, j.:h:, :l: cube)x3, j.:m:, j.:s:, assist extension

Now, I will give you a sample cube corner combo. See what your assists can do for you.

Corner TAC Combos

As you probably already know, MODOK has some crazy TAC combos. These combos have the goal of getting 9 cubes to have a fully powered HPB and make MODOK a serious threat in the second slot. I will write down notations for simple up, down, and side TACs in the corner that maximize damage while minimizing difficulty.

You want to pause for a split second at the beginning to ensure that you are close enough at the end to connect sj.:l: after all the cubes. You can always just try dashing forward first, then sj.:l: instead.

These TACs, of course, are adjustable to whatever you feel more comfortable with. One thing you can do instead is plink an :h: cube after you activate fly. What this means is that you are getting an :h: cube with the same 214 motion (quarter circle back) that you use to get flight. Your inputs look like this: :qcb::s:, :h:. The :h: must be added on quickly. Though this is harder, it does give you more freedom in your TAC, since you now have 10 cubes. You can add in an extra sj.:m: during your cube reps, if you notice the opponent is not floating high enough, or you have more time to delay them, since you can scrap one of them. You could also opt to do an :l: bomb in the start of the up TAC, then find a way to get one more cube, and then plink into another cube from flight mode.

Other Important Combo Notes

If you can hit the opponent with the top of HPB, you can always follow up with your assist based combo extender if your assist ignore hitstun deterioration. This builds meter and does more damage than going into HBR.

Instead of the basic cr.:h:, jump, adf, j.:m: loop, you can try the execution heavy cr.:h:, jump, addf, cr.:h:, loop. Once mastered, this is more damaging and a very scary technique to have for opening up opponents, since it abuses one of his 2 lows and can beat advancing guard. Simply doing add is far easier and works only in the corner, but it won’t beat advancing guard.

You can loop the HBR. In the corner, you can do: cr.:m:, :l: blaster, slight pause, HBR, forward (automatically goes forward for the first burst), down forward, down forward, down back, forward. Once you go upright, you can do another HBR with the same motion to do another rep.

SRK Forums Guide by LTP

Normals

: Has short range, but functions well as an anti-air : Has long range, 5 hits, counts as a projectile, and is safe on block. It can be ducked under by some characters that are too close. All 5 hits will hit, no matter the length of the combo. It is a decent pressure tool. : Has long range and startup, but it can be ducked under. It has little purpose, even in combos. This move is jump cancellable. : Launcher with good range : Has short range. Can be ducked under by some characters. Works decently for hitconfirms. : Has long range, counts as a projectile, and OTGs. It can be ducked under by some characters that are too close. If the attack hits the ground, it persists for a second as a puddle, whose edges count as a low. : Has long range and startup and counts as a low. This move is jump cancellable. Good for combos and hitconfirms. : A fast, multi-hitting overhead that does not stop until it is cancelled or you land. All hits will hit, no matter the length of the combo. Excellent for hitconfirms and combo extension. This move is air dash cancellable. : Has long range. Is excellent for pressure and combos. This move is air dash cancellable. : Has decent range and startup. It is an okay pressure tool, but won’t be used often. This move is air dash cancellable. : Has decent range and startup. It groundbounces (when not used in an air combo) and can cross up. It is a decent pressure tool and is excellent for extending combos. This move is air dash cancellable. : Has long range and startup, but is an excellent anti-air. This move is jump cancellable. Will mostly be used in swag combos and on incoming characters. : Has long range and startup. This move is jump cancellable and wallbounces. Once the wallbounce is used, it strikes them the enemy to the wall and forces an aerial recovery, but is still immune to hitstun. Excellent for extending combos. : Summons a shield in front of MODOK to absorb non-hyper attacks. The enemy must jump over it. The move is not cancellable into supers or hypers. You can call out assists, but you can’t THC. This move can be chained into from any grounded normal.

Specials

: (Psionic Blaster) Shoots a beam projectile that causes a soft knockdown and pushes the opponent away. The grounded and aerial :l: versions are the fastest and do 3 hits. The grounded and aerial :m: versions do 4 hits. The grounded and aerial :h: versions do 5 hits and are the slowest. The aerial :h: version shoots diagonally downward at a 45 degree angle. The :l: blaster is the go to version for zoning and combos in most cases. Some enemies can crouch under the grounded versions of this beam.

: (Psionic High Blaster) Shoots a beam projectile that causes a soft knockdown on airborne enemies and a stagger on grounded opponents, while pushing the opponent away. Note that this beam does not hit high and hits mid. This beam does the most damage, does 5 hits, and has a startup in between the :m: and :h: versions of psionic blaster, and costs one Level of Understanding (LoU). It has little purpose, even in combos. This move cannot be done in the air.
Notes: The move can combo into itself when the opponent is grounded only using an XFC. Even in level 3 XFactor, this move can’t combo into itself. When the stagger hits, you cannot follow up with :f::h:, but other normals and :l: blaster work.

: (Balloon Bomb) MODOK releases a bomb that causes a soft knockdown. The grounded :l: version goes right above MODOK’s head and has the shortest startup, and the aerial :l: version goes in front of MODOK’s feet by about 2 character spaces away. For both :l: versions, the bomb spawns by his feet. The grounded and aerial :m: versions goes in front of MODOK’s feet by about 2 character spaces away. For both :m: versions, the bomb spawns by the top of his head. The grounded and aerial :h: versions have limited homing and decelerates, with quick initial speed, while having the longest startup. For both :h: versions, the bomb spawns by his midsection. All versions do the same damage. Only one bomb can be on the screen at once. If another bomb is called, the older one explodes. This move has great durability and can exchange with beams and other projectiles.

: (Jamming Bomb) MODOK releases a bomb that causes a soft knockdown. It has excellent homing, moves at a constant speed, persists longer than :h: balloon bomb, spawns by his midsection, and costs one LoU. This bomb on hit jams the opponent’s controls for that character. Up is now down, and left is now right, and vice versa. Up back is now down forward. For example, doing a magnetic blast motion (896) is now your quarter circle back motion (214). Doing the magnetic blast motion on the other side is your quarter circle forward motion. This is great to know if one of your hypers that use these motions has invincibility. Turning your controller upside down “normalizes” your controls while jammed. Only one bomb can be on the screen at once. If another bomb is called, the older one explodes.

: (Analysis Cube) MODOK places a stationary projectile that, on hit, increases his Level of Understanding by 1. MODOK can hold a total of 9 LoUs (the current LoU is represent by the fire on his forehead). The grounded and aerial :l: versions goes in front of MODOK’s feet. The grounded :m: version goes farther out at normal jump height. The grounded :h: version goes even farther out level with MODOK’s midsection. The aerial :m: version goes above the aerial :l: version level with MODOK’s midsection. The aerial :h: version goes above the aerial :m: version right above MODOK’s head. Note that this move is safe on block and that multiple can be on the screen at once.

: (Battering Ram) This move can be directed in all 8 directions and can be used to move around the screen. You can only combo off of this move if you XFC or use a hyper. Note that whenever you use this move, you count as being airborne.

: (Big Barrier) Summons a shield in front of MODOK to absorb non-hyper attacks. The enemy must super jump over it. The move is not cancellable into supers or hypers. You can call out assists, but you can’t THC. Note that this move is a special and you can cancel whiffed normals into this move.

: (Flight) This move allows MODOK to fly in addition to his normal jump. This gives MODOK unlimited air specials for the duration of the flight, except for Battering Ram, which cancels flight mode. Other moves that cancel flight mode include j.:l: and j.:s:. Air dashing also cancels flight mode. You can always just unfly normally. Unlike most characters, MODOK can block during his flight, though blocking forces him to unfly.

Hypers

: (Hyper Psionic Blaster aka HPB) This move is a massive beam that eats up all the LoUs you have collected, can be done in the air, and causes a hard knockdown. The greater your LoU, the more damaging and powerful the beam, and the longer the hard knockdown state will be. The damage is initially terrible, but it begins to do more damage than HBR fully scaled at 4 LoUs. With all 9 LoUs, it is the most powerful level one hyper in the game.

: (Hyper Battering Ram aka HBR) This move has you controlling MODOK moving in battering ram bursts, with each burst consisting of three hits. When grounded, you can do 5 bursts, while when activated in the air, you can do 4 minus the number of air specials you have done so far. You can direct each burst in all 8 directions. This will be your typical hyper to end your combos with. With appropriate control of the HBR, it is possible to link this hyper into itself again. This is a level one hyper.

: (Killer Illumination) This move is a grab with invincible startup that you can combo after. Unfortunately, the enemy can jump out if it after the hyper freeze, so you will be using this move only to punish certain hypers/moves. This is a level one hyper that is mashable for extra damage (up to 76 hits, opposed to 30 unmashed).

Flight, Jumps, and Specials: Aerial Movement and Abilities with MODOK

First, let’s cover MODOK’s basic aerial abilities. MODOK has an 8 way air dash and has a limit of 3 specials while in the air. MODOK also has his command flight mode, the longest in the game, which grants him unlimited use of his specials. This is indicated by a blue flame boosting MODOK up in the air. MODOK also has a special normal jump known as low flight mode. This mode is practically identical to the command flight version. MODOK once again has unlimited use of his specials. Inputting the command flight in low flight mode actually makes MODOK unfly, indicated by the flame turning back to its normal orange color. MODOK’s super jump functions like a normal super jump.

There is one very important catch to MODOK’s strange normal jump. MODOK cannot block for a few frames after jumping. This makes MODOK the only character in the game that cannot “chicken block” or “up back”. Similarly, MODOK cannot use his command flight to try “bold blocking” similar to Dante on the ground. However, when airborne, MODOK can use his ability to block during his flight to perform this “bold blocking” technique, since he does not have to get off of the ground. If you whiff a normal in either flight mode, unfly to block instantly. If you whiff a normal while super jumping around, fly to block instantly.

Another item I would like to note with MODOK’s low flight mode is that it gives him the ability to fly to the top of the screen at the beginning of the round. Since this is his normal jump, MODOK can call assists. Assists like Jam Session and Double Lariat allow MODOK to set the pace of the match right away in most cases. Similarly, normal jumping when given space and performing body attack once or twice in the air and/or air dashing up, then activating flight allows you to set up a similar situation, as you can call assists and flight mode grants you one extra air dash, provided that you use it during flight.

It is also interesting how the aerial special limit (3 specials) interacts with the command flight, low flight mode, and HBR. First off, for this aerial special limit, activating flight mode does NOT count as a special; however, unflying DOES count as a special. For example, if you super jump up and activate command flight, do an analysis cube, fire a blaster, and then unfly, you cannot do any more specials. If you super jump up and activate command flight, do an analysis cube, fire a blaster, and wait for the flight mode to end automatically, you can still do one more special. If you super jump up and activate command flight, do 9 analysis cubes, and unfly, you cannot do any more specials. So, just to repeat, flying does not count toward the specials limit, while unflying does. During flight mode, you can do unlimited specials, but when it ends, you cannot do anymore, since the 3 specials limit has been met. Note that these rules also apply to the normal jump (low flight mode).

Now, HBR is a strange hyper when it comes to the air. When grounded, you have 5 battering ram bursts. If you super jump up and activate HBR, you get 4 bursts. If you super jump up, do a special, and activate HBR, you get 3 bursts. If you super jump up, do 2 specials, and activate HBR, you get 2 bursts. If you super jump up, do 2 specials, activate flight, do another special (or however many more during flight), and then activate HBR during flight, you get 1 burst.

MODOK has one nice mobility trick to know and that is the ability to acquire 2 air dashes without entering flight mode. The easiest way this is done is by doing an upward, grounded Battering Ram from any grounded normal (like ). From there, you can easily reach super jump height and still call assists by doing adu, adub, fly. I have noticed that doing: upward grounded Battering Ram, upward aerial Battering Ram, addf, adf and the like causes a particularly jarring change in direction visually and could be useful for getting in with certain assists. This piece of tech is also a nice for making the very good matchups for MODOK all the more unwinnable (such as facing Haggar).

Normal Grabs and Killer Illumination

MODOK can combo off of all normal grabs, and 3 of them you can combo off of in all situations. Abuse these normal grabs when you can, since MODOK’s grab range is above average. Note that these grabs, as well as Killer Illumination, affect your hitstun deterioration, so be wary of this when you try going for your follow up combo.

To combo after Killer Illumination, MODOK can follow up by simply doing: dash, , . It is also possible to follow up for a little extra damage by doing: dash, , , adf, .

For his grounded grabs, MODOK can follow up in most cases by simply doing: dash, , , adf, , into combo. It is also possible (though I believe the timing is more strict) to follow up by doing: dash, , .

For his : aerial grab, MODOK can follow up in most cases by doing: wave dash twice, , , adf, , into combo.

For his aerial grab, MODOK can only follow up in the corner and when the grab was done at minimum height (the height when you activate low flight mode or command flight on the ground). From there, follow up with: , , adf, , into combo. Doing , also works. Timing to get the to connect is strict.

For the main three grabs that you will be comboing off of, know that if you toss them in the corner and you end up right next to your opponent, going right for a : will usually whiff, so it is best to recognize that you are in a corner and dash back, then do a , , adf, .

It is also important to note that you should always option select your grabs. When you go for a grab, there are three possible outcomes. You get the grab (any inputs during the animation won’t buffer), the grab gets teched, or you whiff the grab. Be sure to have a plan for the last 2 outcomes. For your aerial grab, try to get the grab. After attempting to grab, going for a quick , cube is a good strategy. For the first outcome, your extra inputs are ignored and you combo off of the grab. For the second outcome, you will likely beat their mashing with and get a cube in the process. For the third outcome, cannot cancel into , so that will be ignored, but cube will come out, which is relatively safe in most post air grab attempts. Similarly, you want a strategy for your grounded throws. gives you a barrier on whiff that takes time to come out and is not cancellabe. gives you a slow move, but at least it is cancellable. So naturally, you want to go for forward throws more often than not. The problem with grounded throws is that there is a possibility that your opponent will mash that shield skills and you will be teching throws all day. So there are two strategies. Either you can mash :f::h:, which takes care of the first two options, and cancel into an cube/blaster when you recognize that it whiffs, or you can do , , cube, similar to the back air throw version, if you suspect that they won’t be mashing throw. But this is Mahvel, so unfortunately, going for the first strategy is most likely better.

MODOK’s Basic Neutral Game

MODOK’s neutral game requires you to press a lot of buttons to put a lot of stuff on screen at the right time in order to limit your opponent’s options while keeping your pressure relatively safe. The kind of neutral game you want to play also is weighted by what kind of neutral assists you have at your disposal.

The first thing MODOK needs to set up any safe pressure is to put some space between MODOK and the opponent. If you have a good get off me assist or zoning assist, it is usually a good idea to super jump up back, air dash down back while whiffing (to put a nice hitbox in front of you as you land, which can be followed up for a full combo if it hits), and calling your assist and throwing out an blaster. If you have a lockdown assist, calling that assist and dashing in with lets you get some really quick, relatively risk free pressure in, which you can quickly cancel into a barrier to help get your momentum started. With pretty much any kind of assist, calling the assist and crossing over the opponent head is great. When the assist is giving your opponent trouble, dash back down to the ground and apply pressure or put some space between you and your opponent for some zoning.

Once you have your space built and have a bit of momentum going, it’s time to start going nuts. In general, you want to slowly but surely inch forward, pushing your opponent to the corner, where MODOK’s pressure, especially with assists, is ridiculous. This is usually done by careful usage of your neutral assists and projectiles. You want to throw out lots of cubes, blasters, and cr.:m:s while abusing your neutral assist. Cancel into cubes and blasters. Throw out barriers on your way forward if they help with the matchup while your opponent is distracted by your assist. If your opponent is trying to rush you down, let them try coming to you. Between the cubes, , and your assist, you will get some great pressure and likely a hit in for a combo. You generally want to be grounded to really apply pressure and use your assists, while sniping your opponent’s assists with blaster. Every now and then, you might want to take to the air. If you are forced to do so due to rush down, try to get back down as quickly as possible before your opponent gets to use an assists, or at least try to avoid it before returning to the ground. Use cube, bomb, and in an attempt to get these characters away from you when you try returning to the ground. When they take to the air themselves, stay up there or follow them and try getting a combo going with cube or snipe them out of the air with a blaster and quickly dash back down to the ground while whiffing to get your grounded pressure going again. The only other time you want to go airborne is to keep your assist calls safer by being in a position to punish attempts at punishing your assist on the ground with things like hypers, and it is also a really quick way of getting in on your opponent with your physical attacks.

From there, just adjust your neutral game to whatever matchup you are facing. Know what your opponent wants to do, know what your opponent can do to fight your options, and know what tools you have that you can get away with and abuse them. If a character wants to be in your face, try as much zoning as possible with some safe rushdown pressure thrown in for good measure. If a character wants to zone, depending on your assists and theirs, try outzoning or take to the air and make a careful approach in. If you go the zoning route, know their tools and use yours to beat them. Usually just getting a barrier out will win the battle.

Now, I will just give a few short matchup specific examples. Wesker has nothing for you at super jump height. If he starts throwing out gunshots at full screen, jump up there with some blasters, and when he tries to throw you, use cube, bomb, and to deter that. Characters like Nova and Spencer love zipping across the screen at normal jump height. cube stops that easy approach. Zero and Vergil like to go nuts. Abuse your assist and go airborne. Throw out lots of cubes and bombs and be ready to confirm off of them for a combo when they into them. Put a lot of space between you and them and get airborne if they get too close. Hawkeye is obnoxious. If you have the team synergy for it and your opponent’s isn’t that great, zone and throw out barriers while inching forward when you can. Use the invincibility of Killer Illumination to avoid Gimlets. Taskmaster is also annoying. Watch out for the Legion arrows super and shield skills. Inch forward, make careful assist calls, and outzone him. Morrigan backed by missiles? Don’t let it start. Call neutral assist, blaster, and continue with the basic neutral game while sniping the missiles assist call. Fly away if it gets started and wait it out unless you have a great DHC, but otherwise, you should be control. Hulk? Get some space and do the basic neutral game for the KO. Captain America is interesting. Watch out for Charging Star and try using your assist to get a barrier out on the ground, so it isn’t a problem. His Stars and Stripes hyper cannot be punished by Killer Illumination, so watch out for that as well.

Assists for MODOK

MODOK benefits a lot from pretty much every class of assist. He likes lockdown, zoning, low, get off me, and combo extension assists. When choosing the right assist, you want the assist that benefits you the most in the neutral game while providing as many of the functions listed above as possible. Arguably the best assist for MODOK is Doom’s hidden missiles, since they provide lockdown, help with zoning, act as a combo breaker, and are great for combo extension. Other notable assists include drones, vajra, double lariat, senpu bu, jam session, rapid slash, quick work, and slant shot (grapple). These all have some practical use in the neutral game and also allow for other things such as combo extension. Look at what your characters’ assists and see what works best for your team, and even check to see what THCs are attached to the different assists if it is hard to choose.

MODOK’s Assists

MODOK has three very interesting assists to choose from. Find out which work best for your team.

Barrier: This acts exactly as it does when MODOK is on point. This could be used to help zone, keep the pressure going, or with incoming mixups.

Blaster: This move acts a bit different compared to when MODOK is on point. This move no longer causes a soft knockdown. This assist is great for the typical beam usage. It is great for teleport shenanigans and knocking out other assists. It can also have limited use as a combo extender.

Balloon Bomb: This move acts quite a bit different compared to when MODOK is on point. This move no longer causes a soft knockdown, but it can now OTG and it has infinite durability. It takes up a nice bit of space and persists to help you out with your neutral game. It also can be used as a combo extender. This assist can be used for some nasty resets as well.

Strategy vs. M.O.D.O.K.

Heroes vs. Heralds Strategy

Consider special-cancelling cards to turn a stream of Cubes and Blasts into a flood. Get an HC Gauge-building card on board as well to cover the cost of special cancels.